Joe, 80, died June 26, 2016, in Buffalo Creek, CO. He was born December 14, 1935, in Burlington, CO. Joe graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in civil engineering before entering the US Army. After two of his college summers as a ground pounder, Joe jumped at Missoula for the 1956-58 seasons.

Joe began his professional career with Boeing before going to work as an agricultural engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Agency for International Development in Thailand. He returned to the states in 1971 and settled in Fresno, California.

Joe was a pioneer in irrigation management in California's Central Valley establishing weather stations to determine crop water requirements before the State thought of the idea. Eventually the State established the California Irrigation Management Info. System which is in operation today.

Joe was active in the NSA Trails Program and was on a project only ten days before his death.